slowthai responds to criticism of his 2019 Mercury Prize performance

Last night (19 September), slowthai slated Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and the BBC were forced to cut away from the rapper after he held up a fake severed head of Johnson while wearing a "Fuck Boris" t-shirt during his performance of "Doorman".

.@slowthai held up a dummy Boris Johnson head when he appeared on stage at the ceremony to announce the winner of the #MercuryPrize.

Read more about the politically charged ceremony here: https://t.co/qZkitbGw0d pic.twitter.com/WjdIS8Vd5s

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 20, 2019

Having received backlash over the political statement, the rapper has shared a statement about his actions. slowthai wrote, "Last night I held a mirror up to this country and some people don't like the reflection. Yet this is exactly where we're being taken, cut off and at all costs. The people in power who are trying to isolate and divide us aren't the ones who will feel its effects the hardest."

The rapper continues, "They're not the ones queueing at food banks, not the ones navigating Universal Credit and not the ones having to deal with systematic oppression and hate crimes at the hands of privileged politicians who say what they want without fear and consequence ... This 'act' was a metaphor for what the government is doing to our country, except what I did was present it in plain sight."

pic.twitter.com/zQ34fz4P7D

— slowthai (@slowthai) September 20, 2019

slowthai was nominated for the 2019 Mercury Prize award for his debut album Nothing Great About Britain.